BCSP Report – Week 50

Speckles is a 5 month old female we believe to be a Catahoula mix.  She was dropped off at the vet at age 7-8 weeks of age with ringworm and a sister who is black with silver tan on her legs and face.  The lady who brought them to us said the mother dog was killed along the side of the road.    Speckles has a bobbed tail and should mature in the 50 - 60 pound range.  She is a great dog for a family with kids.  Her sister is very special, great for small kids or special needs such as autism, being very forgiving.  Call Marilyn at 573-722-3035 to adopt for $250 which includes her spay and all her puppy shots.

Speckles is a 5 month old female we believe to be a Catahoula mix. She was dropped off at the vet at age 7-8 weeks of age with ringworm and a sister who is black with silver tan on her legs and face. The lady who brought them to us said the mother dog was killed along the side of the road. Speckles has a bobbed tail and should mature in the 50 – 60 pound range. She is a great dog for a family with kids. Her sister is very special, great for small kids or special needs such as autism, being very forgiving. Call Marilyn at 573-722-3035 to adopt for $250 which includes her spay and all her puppy shots.

December 2 – 8

Monday morning I opened a Facebook link that showed a purebred Boxer lying outside of his excuse-of-a-dog-house.  He was stiff:  frozen to death by sheer neglect. He was stretched out like my pet cow, Carolyn, who had died when I was a kid of a heart attack in the dead of winter in Northern Minnesota.

Carolyn was a pet Holstein that my brother and I would ride like a pony.  She made a suitable substitute for a pony.  You work with what you have when you are a kid living on a farm.

You work with what you have when you live anywhere, rich or poor, however this Boxer, that probably cost the owners a few bucks to purchase, was given little chance to survive.  From the story I read the Boxer’s care was not given thought.

His still body shows his ribs protruding.  His single coat had no layer of fat beneath the short fur.  Nothing to generate heat when he needed it the most.

His dog house was a wooden box with no visible bedding inside.  It had a roof and three sides.  The front was wide open and there were no windbreaks to shelter the dog from the chilling breeze or rain or from the wet snow.

Inside the dog house was a layer of snow.  The famished Boxer had no food near his house.  I read he had no water.

He had no hope of surviving…

This is not the topic I wanted to write about today.  I wanted to remind our readers that we are a non-profit 501 c-3 now and that your donations to our organization are still a tax deduction.  I wanted to tell you that my sister in West Fargo ND donated $200 to the Project in memory of our Uncle Clarence Bitker who passed away in November.

I wanted to tell you that we need a building to house the strays and unwanted dogs, maybe some cats.  I wanted to tell you how we could fulfill that dream: what would be required.

I wanted to tell you that there are rumors out there about the future of the Bollinger County Stray Project (BCSP) which may or may not be true but that I can’t discuss in print until I know for sure what our future support will be.

So this is what I will say about donations: no matter the rumors you may have heard, please remember the BCSP this year.  Think of us for spay vouchers which can be used no matter what.  Think about us for land near Marble Hill or between Marble Hill and Advance.  Think about us to help pay the bills for special need dogs.  We appreciate your donations more than we can say.

Instead I will focus on the callous neglect of owning pets or livestock and not offering them shelter… or food… or water.

We heard of thousands of cattle dying in the Dakota’s in November from a show storm.  Cattle, horses, and goats need a place to get out of the wet snow and rain.  Goats, calves and horses may get pneumonia without shelter.  Those animals have a thick coat, some have double coats.

Some dogs like winter weather.  Pit Bulls and mixes of, Boxers, many small breed dogs, and others have single coats.  They don’t fair well in our moist wet winter weather, especially the weather of the past week. The Almanac says we may have a harsher winter unlike we have seen for several years.

Thursday I was asked to take a Boxer mix stray male dog from the Patton area.  The caller stated that he was thin: his ribs showed, but his hip backbone was not protruding like so many others this past fall.

So they drove in the inclement weather to the Marble Hill Vet.  After preparing a kennel for him I drove in during the start of the icing of Highway 51, a dangerous road in such conditions.

When I got him home I dressed him in a fleece sweater I had purchased at a Good Will store.  I layered it with two t-shirts I purchased for $1 each at Town and Country.  He was put in a kennel with metal barn roofing and it was covered on two sides by a budget tarp I purchased at Peter’s Supply that afternoon.

I was trying to get our dog numbers down to 35 by the end of December.  At this moment we have 69 dogs and puppies on our property: a record number for us.  Hopefully the 29 babies under age 6-weeks will be adopted for Christmas or by New Years Eve.

I hope others found the time and made the commitment to fill the dog houses with dry bedding and fed your dogs a quality food to help them generate heat.

Please check out our Facebook page on a story with tips to winterize your pet’s shelter and about a way to feed on a budget.   We hope to have a posting of the Boxer that died in Perryville County too.

Accepted strays and relinquished dogs (4 and we have no more room):

… No one claimed the Australian Shepherd and probably Border Collie mix male from Puxico.

… No one claimed the Heeler, Husky, or Collie type female that was found at the Courthouse: upright ears, yellow to red in color with some white.

…  No one claimed the neutered male Chihuahua that weighs about 4 pounds.

…  No one claimed the yellow Lab Shar Pei type female found near 51 and W.

 Adoptions, return to owner or placed in other rescues:

… Five or six pups went to an Illinois rescue from a family in Marble Hill.

(Note: Adoptions have been few the past 5 to 6-weeks due to Petfinder’s attempt to update their website.    

Cat calls:

… FREE: Project cat and kittens, fully vetted (includes spayed) house trained tortoise grey/orange/cream mother cat and her remaining 4-month old kittens which are Russian Blue: one male and three girls.  Their foster was allergic and they had to be removed.  They are currently being boarded at the MH vet and are free.  Adopter must agree to spay or neuter the kittens when of age:  See FB. Call 573-722-3035

… FREE, ten cats: age 1 year, all spayed or neutered house cats, litter trained. Well cared for, call 573-495-2033

… Mother and kitten are grey tabby, mom is PG, 3-4 mo old fe kitten, Zalma 222-6978

… Someone dumped 2 long hair tabbies: one dark tabby semi long, a white with tabby, and a black with white kitten.  Call 573-495-2033

Calls requesting assistance for dogs we did not admit:

… LOST 12/5/13 near Advance funeral home: Blue Heeler male, about 12 weeks of age, may be a mix, but looks pure, black-white with red on his legs. Kid’s dog and a reward.

… FOUND 12/7/13 near Patton: red with black mask, male Boxer mix, about 1 yr old.

… FOUND 12/8/13 near Oran: black pup, short tight coat.  Could be Boxer or Pit mix, male, about 12 weeks of age, may be taken to Humane Society in Cape.

… LOST 11/23/13 Glennon area on Highway T, 2 miles from 91: Fiest female, black with white, 16-18 pounds, age 10 months.

 Miscellaneous and contact info:

There are many ways to donate to the Bollinger County Stray Project.  They include giving monthly or annually.  Maybe you prefer to give towards special needs pets posted on FB,  used collars, dog houses, dog food, bleach, etc.  Think of the BCSP for memorials when you write your will (a building on property specifically for the Project.  We appreciate help transporting pets to and from the vet or towards St. Louis or other areas once they are adopted or accepted in other rescues.  We appreciate volunteers who come to our home to help repair or build stuff for the dogs or who help clean and care for the dogs.  We greatly appreciate those who give of their time, home and talents to care for the strays that wander on to their porch or that they see hungry along the road.  We realize you donate much when you care for a stray.

Thank you Bob Harwood for all you did for the stray mother cat and her six kittens.

Thank you for your support. 

Now please look at our Facebook page to read about winterizing made easy and to see the story about the Boxer in today’s story.   You can be a struggling pet’s hero.  Don’t turn your back on family or friend’s pets that are suffering.

We had 67 dogs on our property Monday. 29 are pups age 5 weeks or younger.

Please report animal abuse and discourage anyone from dumping dogs or puppies.

The mothers of three litters in our care were not fed properly before whelping.  They came to us underweight to grossly underweight.  Puppies thin and bony, full of worms.  Please offer any pregnant dog small-breed-puppy-food the final 1-2 weeks before delivery and while the pups are nursing. Give those mothers all the food they want: bowls full all day and lots of fresh water available all day.   Cats need kitten food.  Free feed the higher calorie food during the nursing stage to help mom make milk and maintain her own body mass.  Babies need to be dewormed as young as 1-2 weeks, then every 7-10 days until age 10-weeks or older if in a confined environment with re-infestation concerns.

Offer strays water on day one and food day two or three. Call if missing a dog or you have a stray.

If you suspect an animal is being neglected or abused, call the Humane Society of Missouri Animal Cruelty Hotline, 314-647-4400 or 800-383-9835 or you can make a confidential report on line at Humane Society of Missouri.

To understand when an animal is being abused or neglected in the state of Missouri read the following link:http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/cruelty/mo_cruel.htm

We LOVE Buchheits!  Donate a buck or more at the Jackson store for dog food and supplies when you shop. Also, Second Time Around in Marble Hill is taking donations for the Stray Project. Monetary donations are accepted at the Bollinger County Veterinary Service, Marble Hill Coop, Buchheits, and the MH Town and Country.

Thank you to the County Residents who have continued to support the Bollinger County Stray Project. 

Check out our available pets at Petfinder.  Call 573-722-3035 about our adoptable pets.